Westside Pride
End of Year 2018-2019
AWARDS & HONORS
Hannah-Kate Kinney, Westside High School
Congratulations to Westside High student Hannah-Kate Kinney, named the 2019 Nebraska Student Reporter by the National High School Musical Theatre Awards! She is one of only 10 NATIONAL finalists, eligible for an all-expenses paid trip to New York City. As of May 22, Hannah-Kate's video entry on social media had reached a leading 21,400 views! YOU CAN HELP! Please click here to watch Hannah-Kate's video, then like and share!
Congratulations and GOOD LUCK, Hannah-Kate!!
Project SEARCH Graduates
Back to front, left to right... Veronica Marshall, Thomas Dowling, Brook Whetstone, Sam Winter, Tony Cantu, Collin Curfman, Tony Carabantes-Betchel, Samantha Droz, Josh Beckley)
Melissa Smith, Westside Middle School
THIS MONTH AT WESTSIDE
Swanson
Swanson 3rd Graders took a field trip to the SAC Museum this month! The students enjoyed learning to program Lego robots they constructed, investigating circuits with play-doh pianos, and learning about the history of the planes.
Westside High
Five WHS students are now UNMC High School Alliance graduates! This highly selective program allows students to observe, shadow, and take college-level classes from UNMC's doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, public health advocates, researchers and other health care professionals. Congratulations to Roshan Sapkota, Laina Bayles, Brennan Zatechka, Grace Berentson, and Ethan Goldner!
Prairie Lane
Prairie Lane 4th graders Tyler Hanna, Pearson Kratky, Alex LeClair and Jude Van Belle organized and promoted Sports Club for the 3rd year in a row, raising more than $1,000 for Alzheimers causes, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and for Prairie Lane!
Loveland
Westside CAPS
Rockbrook
Sunset Hills
Westside DECA
Congratulations to the Westside DECA team, who represented our district and state well at the 2019 National Competition in Florida! 18 Westside students placed in the Top 20% at the National DECA championships, an amazing accomplishment, as there are over 15,000 students that competed!
Hillside
Westside Middle School Career Day
Westside Middle School provided another outstanding Career Day for Westside 8th graders on May 10! Students started the day in their SPARK (homeroom) classes and learned about the service learning requirement, required for high school graduation, that they can begin earning this summer. 8th graders also gained knowledge, during three sessions, about their career interests from professionals in the community.
Our sincere thanks to Omaha-area businesses for their generosity and time, including: Access Elevator & Lifts, Alley Poyner Machietto Architecture, CASA for Douglas County, Children's Hospital & Medical Center, ConAgra Brands, Creighton University, Farris Engineering, Gallup, Investigations Division Sarpy County Sheriff's Office, Live on Nebraska, Lueder Construction, Nebraska Children's Home Society, Nebraska Health Network, Nelson Murphy Insurance and Investments, Nikki Boulay Voice, Omaha Fire Dept., Omaha Police Dept., Proxibid, RBC Wealth Management, RehabVisions, Suder Law, Talacko Safety Solutions, Travel and Transport, Truck Center Companies, UNO Communications Dept., UNO Education Dept., and Westside Community Schools.
Warrior Girls Golf Camp A Huge Success!
The inaugural Warrior Girls Golf Camp, organized and hosted by Westside State Champion Kaitlyn Hanna, took place on May 4th at Miracle Hill Golf Course to promote the sport to girls in 1st - 8th grade. The camp was designed specifically to unite girls of all ages and skill levels, to connect with the Westside Warriors Golf Team, and encourage golf! 79 girls from across the greater Omaha community participated!
THANK YOU to the 14 corporate sponsors who partnered with the camp, providing funding for camp scholarships so no girl was turned away! For information on future Warrior Girls Golf Camps or how to sponsor, please email warriorgirlsgolfcamp@gmail.com.
Donate Your Old Phone To WHS!
Have an old phone? The Westside High School Social Studies Department is looking for phone donations to conduct Google virtual tours in class! They are looking for Samsung Galaxy S5 or newer OR iPhone 6 or newer.
If you would like a tax-deductible form for the donation, please drop off your phone with your name and address to Westside High School, attention Amy Studts.
Westside Students Leading In Math Achievement
From Excellence in Youth Teacher Leader Dr. Lynn Spady:
Both Aiden and Christopher are triple accelerated in math. To put this in perspective, most students take Algebra in 9th grade and both of these boys were/are CRUSHING it in 6th grade! This doesn't happen very often in our district, so instead of keeping them isolated in their respective buildings, we found a way to bring them together! With the help of Kristen Job and Aiden's dad's willingness to provide transportation, the boys started meeting in September, every other Wednesday morning. During one of the first meetings, Aiden and Christopher decided that they wanted to put on a math contest for 3rd graders in the district. Over the past several months, they have created, sent out, and corrected tests, sent emails to teachers, and identified the top scores across the district. They took it a step further and scheduled 3 "Math Parties" at Oakdale, Sunset, and Loveland where the top scoring 3rd graders come for an afternoon of math FUN!
Aiden and Christopher both have an amazing math talent, but even more important, they are well rounded young men involved in a variety of other activities including music and sports. They both have a true Warrior spirit of excellence and I look forward to all they will accomplish in the years to come!
This the power of personalized learning at Westside!
UPCOMING EVENTS
5/23 Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies
5/24 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, 1PM DISMISSAL
5/27 Memorial Day - district offices closed
6/1 Westside Show Choirs Mattress Fundraiser, 10am-5pm @ WMS
6/10 Board of Education meeting, 6:30pm @ ABC
6/11 Bond Oversight Committee meeting, 6pm @ ABC
6/24 Westside Open @ The Players Club
7/4 Independence Day - district offices closed
7/9 Bond Oversight Committee meeting, 6pm @ ABC
7/15 Board of Education meeting, 6:30pm @ ABC
8/14 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Westside Unified Activities Supports Special Olympics
We know we just sent out that our Elementary Unified Activities were wrapped up for the year, but we wanted to make you aware of one more chance! The Special Olympics Summer Opening Ceremony will be this Thursday, May 23rd, 7:00pm at the DJ Sokol Arena on the Creighton University Campus(address info below). We'd love to have you join us for a "Fans in the Stands" event including special performances by Ivan Pecel, Extreme Jump Ropers the Chicago Boyz, and Lemon Fresh Day. We'll plan to meet at 6:30 so we can get in and find a good spot! Look for the Westside Poster out front and we can sit together.
Opening events can last into the evening. We invite families to attend for as much or as little of the time as their child will enjoy.
A Message from WCS Communications
What a wonderful year this has been filled with student and staff achievements, changes throughout our district, and exciting opportunities yet to come. This last newsletter is full of great moments and accomplishments throughout our schools.
As we conclude this year, our FIRST using Smore for electronic newsletters, we encourage you to watch your email in the coming weeks for a survey about your opinions regarding District communication. Our goal continues to be to provide timely, transparent, and helpful information in times of crisis, during major events and issues, and throughout the school year, to keep all of our community updated and to showcase the educational opportunities provided to learners in our schools.
We also thank Superintendent Dr. Blane McCann, who will retire in a few short weeks. In just seven years, he has made a powerful impact on our district; ensuring our future through new state-of-the-art schools and facilities, increasing achievement across the board through personalized learning and strategic planning, and by leading through his constant example of kindness and devotion to all learners and public education. To all who have expressed an interest in sending Dr. McCann a card or message, our contact information is as follows:
ABC Administration Building
c/o Dr. Blane McCann
909 S. 76th St.
Omaha, NE 68114
Thank you for entrusting your children to Westside Community Schools, and for your help making sure the 2018-2019 school year was a tremendous success. Enjoy your last day of school tomorrow, and have a wonderful summer!
Brandi Paul
Director of Communications & Engagement
Westside Community Schools